Twelve-year-old Homer, a poor but clever orphan, has extraordinary adventures after running away from his evil uncle to rescue his brother, who has been sold into service in the Civil War.

Arthur Bash is the school thug-for-hire (paid in candy bars), mostly because he just looks the part, so when orphan Darius Drake offers him three candy bars to accompany him to the run-down Stompanado Housing Complex, and just look menacing, he agrees--and soon finds himself deep in a mystery involving Darius' estranged grandfather, the lost Dunbar Diamonds, and the villainous Jasper Jones.